Have you ever felt trapped in a cycle you just couldn’t break—where freedom feels promised but not lived out? In today’s devotional, Jennifer Slattery shares her deeply personal journey through disordered eating and emotional wounds. But more than that, she reveals the key to lasting freedom: learning to rely not on our own strength, but on Christ's Spirit within us.

2 Corinthians 3:17 reminds us, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” This isn’t just a feel-good verse—it’s a declaration of the abundant life we’re meant to walk in every day.

🌟 Highlights:
🔑 Real talk on spiritual strongholds and emotional healing
🛑 Why we self-sabotage even when we know better
🙌 Freedom isn’t found through striving—but in surrender
💡 How the Holy Spirit leads us toward healing, hope, and transformation

💬 Join the Conversation
Have you ever experienced God setting you free from a mindset or habit? We’d love to hear your story. Share in the comments or tag us @LifeAudioNetwork using #FreedomInChrist to join the conversation.

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Full Transcript Below:

Learning to Live in Christ’s Freedom 

by Jennifer Slattery

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

In my teen years, I responded to my chaotic and painful environment by seeking control—through dieting. Soon, however, this unhealthy coping mechanism began to control me, and the very act that initially provided a sense of strength—pseudo strength—only added to the feelings of hopelessness from which I so desperately sought to escape. Initially, I tried to fight my eating disorder in my own strength, but this inevitably led to failure and shame. I began to experience the freedom I sought, not just from disordered eating, but the wounds driving it, when I invited God into my struggle and learned to rely, more consistently, on His power at work within me.

While I’ve come a long way, praise God, since my self-destructing adolescence, my soul still contains wounds for which I need the Lord’s healing, and self-sabotaging patterns in need of His freedom. I gain the courage to follow Him in that transformative journey when I reflect not on the difficulty of obedience but instead on the heart of the One doing the leading. 

Jesus longs to see me, and you, living in the freedom of grace. This is a beautiful gift bestowed upon everyone who’s trusted in Christ for salvation. His Spirit does indeed set us free—from the enslaving pull of sin, from the threat of death, and the punishment we deserve for all our moral failings. 

Yet, if this is true, why do so many of us still struggle with self-sabotaging, unChrist-like behaviors? Like lashing out when we’re hurt, angry, or feel under attack, or withdrawing and isolating in self-protection? Comforting ourselves with a quart of ice cream, numbing out through hours of television watching or mindlessly scrolling through our social media feeds?

We’ve received spiritual freedom through faith in Christ, but now we need to learn to live in it. We do this, in part, by becoming more alert to God’s presence within us and all around us. As today’s verse states, He is Spirit. This means He’s not bound by space or time. He remains present in our greatest challenges and regrets and plants within our souls hope for our future. 

Today’s verse also reminds us of His heart toward us, His children. He longs to see us living vibrantly, beautifully free. That was why Jesus came.   

Foretelling Christ’s mission, as if through His voice, the prophet Isaiah wrote: 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor (Isaiah 61:1-3, NIV).

Intersecting Life and Faith

Jesus brings good news—a message of love, grace, hope and thriving life. He pursues those held captive to sin, the wounds that come from living in our broken world, and the lies those hurts often create.  

He sees our pain, understands our most intense struggles, and He meets us not with condemnation or frustration but instead, compassion. He lifts us out of the ashes and crowns us with beauty and a garment of praise.   

And He invites us to turn to Him, to rely on Him, trust in Him, and yield to His Spirit at work within us. That is how we experience ever-deepening freedom—not through striving, but rather, through connecting with and resting in Him.

Stated another way: so long as we do our best to follow Him, He will lead us to greater freedom. And when we mess up, which we will, we can trust Him to pursue us and His Spirit to draw us back to Himself. To quote my therapist, He does the heavy lifting. All He’s asking is that we hold tight for the ride. 

Further Reading

John 10:7-10

John 8:36

Galatians 5:1, 16-18 

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